What Your Baby Should Be Doing at 5 Weeks

Your 5 Week Old Baby

It has now been a month since your beautiful baby was born. By now the newness of the experience and the excitement may be starting to wear off and you might be feeling like a zombie from the lack of sleep you have been getting, and the long days you have been putting in. Your partner probably went back to work a couple of weeks ago. At this point you might be starting to feel like you are all alone in raising your baby. You might be reminiscing and wishing you were still pregnant as it probably seemed easier then.

The Baby Blues are normal. You may experience mood swings from one minute to the next and go from crying for no reason to feeling exuberant within a matter of moments. This is all due to hormonal changes in your body, and in time it will get better.

Some women however experience a form of depression called postpartum depression, or PPD. This is when you feel sad, lonely, overcome with anxiety and a lack of energy day after day. You might find yourself wishing you didn't have a baby. In severe cases of PPD you might even have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby. If you think you have PPD, please contact your health care provider immediately. Roughly 10% of new moms suffer from PPD, and there is help available.

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Week 5 Milestones

By this point your baby will be smiling more and more, and might smile in response to your expressions or actions.

He will be able to respond to bells and whistles by turning his head, cooing, crying, and smiling.

Since he should have mastered lifting his head 45 degrees in the first month, he should be able to hold it up for an extended period of time by now.

What Might Concern You at 5 Weeks

Some babies develop cradle cap, a rash that appears on the top of the head. Also known as milk crust or honeycomb disease, cradle cap appears as white flakes and may remind you of adult dandruff. This is quite normal in many babies, but there are things you can do to try to clear it up:

Do not shampoo every day. As with adults, daily shampooing can dry out your babies scalp and make the flakes worse.

For minor cases of cradle cap, try massaging mineral oil or Vaseline on your baby's head before shampooing. Let it sit and loosen the flakes, then shampoo as normal.

Keep your baby's head cool and dry as sweat can make the flakes increase in consistency.

Cradle cap is not dangerous to your baby, but when in doubt, check with your pediatrician.

This Time Last Year...

You weren't even pregnant yet.
How did you imagine having a 5 week old baby would be then?
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*Each child is different. Your baby may not progress the same as the information found here. The information here is based on the national average. It is not meant to be a replacement for any advice you may receive from your doctor. If you have any concerns about your baby, we advise you to contact your doctor.

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